'Yesterday's just a memory, tomorrow is never what it's supposed to be.'
~ Bob Dylan
The dark clouds loomed ominously, and it started to rain as she approached the dark brown dirt of the newly dug grave. A breeze rustled through the grounds, and a chilled hand that belong to Penelope Garcia reached out, touching the white marble headstone, hoping, just for one foolish moment, that it wasn't real.
Hand met stone.
The hope shattered.
No longer sure it was raindrops falling down her cheeks, she felt her gaze wander to the deep, black letters. With trembling fingers she traced them, her mind bringing up all the memories she had of the raven haired Agent who lay in the ground underneath her feet. All the times they had smiled together, breaking away from the horror of their jobs. The moments where she would see the rebellious girl whom she had been in her youth come out to play...
For an Agent in one of the most respected law enforcement organisations, Emily had known way too many drinking games, and more than once Kevin had had to help her nurse a hangover.
However, seeing Emily jumping on her bed, and singing 'Rainin' Men' had been worth it, and steadily the tears fell faster, mingling with the rain, as the full force of her death hit her for what seemed the hundredth time. There were moments, wonderful, wonderful moments, where she would forget. Times in the BAU where she saw things she thought Emily would find amusing, and made a note to tell her. Instances when she would think about going shopping, her hand on the phone and ready to call before it dawned on her. But it wouldn't last, and slowly she would have to accept it... to move on.
Casting her mind back to the funeral, she remembered the grief etched on every face. The warmth of Derek's hand as it clasped around her trembling one. And then she had gone into work next Monday. Emily's desk was cleared out. It was like she hadn't even existed, now just a picture on a wall with no hint of the woman beneath.
The funeral, the reception, they hadn't been Emily. They had been full of people there to get in with the grieving ambassador, and in her heart Penelope knew her friend would have hated it, and her hands clenched involuntarily. Casting her eyes once more on the marble, the words fidelity, bravery, and integrity stood out, and she felt another rush of anger, wiping away the grief for a moment.
That hadn't been Emily, that was only a part of Emily.
To Penelope, Emily was the woman who liked cats far too much. She had been the person who could eat a whole bucket of ice-cream without getting brain freeze. She had been the only women who could drink Derek under the table, before following him soon after.
She had.
She had.
She had.
The past tense, minor to many was like a knife to her heart. Desperately she wished they had gotten there in time. That Emily hadn't felt the need to go off on her own.
But if there was one thing Emily Prentiss was, she was fearless. Yet another word omitted from the cold stone.
Penelope sighed, a weariness entering her bones that shouldn't be there until she was old and in a rocking chair. Glancing around, she thought she saw someone in the tree line, the white coat visible even from this distance.
Grief was everywhere, no one was immune to death, and she watched the person move away, wondering absentmindedly who they were grieving for...
The sudden shrill ring of her phone seemed obscene for the quiet setting, and, seeing it was Hotch, she answered reluctantly.
Life went on.
Cold. Harsh. Clinical. But nevertheless true, and, with a heavy heart, Penelope left the graveyard.
'Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them.'
~ George Eliot
A/N: This is my entry of the 'All the Colours of the Rainbow' challenge on CCOAC. My chosen character was Penelope Garcia, and I was assigned Emily Prentiss along with the sentence 'The dark clouds loomed ominously, and it started to rain as she approached the dark brown dirt of the newly dug grave,' by pinkturtle55. I hope this met your expectations, it was certainly a challenge!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Criminal Minds... but I do own Hotch... Wait... How the Hell did he escape?
As always reviews are appreciated :)